A Detour
by CreativeReading
Summary: What if Loki made a quick detour before leaving the hellcarrier? Blackfrost, a bit.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's** **Note**- I own nothing from Marvel.

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"Thank you for your cooperation."

I smiled to myself as I walked out of the detention area. That "interrogation" had gone much better than I had anticipated. As I walked down the corridors, Fury's voice crackled on my earpiece, "Agent Romanoff, you've been up for the last 24 hours straight. Go immediately to your rack and get some shut-eye."

"Sir, . . .", I began.

"That's an order, Agent Romanoff. Bed. Now."

"Yes, sir", I capitulated. No reason to argue. I was dead exhausted. I don't think I'd slept at all since Loki took Clint.

I made my way to my room. A solo room on a carrier like this was a luxury and I was ready for some peace and solitude.

I must have slept less than 10 minutes when I awoke. I wasn't alone in my room. The first thing I did was hit the panic button hidden on the wall behind my mattress. I then began to grope for the gun under my pillow.

"All of your weapons have been . . . . confiscated, Agent Romanoff."

My heart sunk as I recognized that voice. A voice that had insulted me not an hour before. My mind whirled. I could only think of a few reasons why he would be here, in my room, instead of escaping off the ship and none of them were good.


	2. Chapter 2

I slowly lifted myself off of my bed and flicked on the lights, blinking as they came on. He stood there in front of my door, blocking my exit, his tall presence overpowering the tiny room. My mind quickly ran through my options. Without any weapons, heck, even with them, I doubted I could take him in a fight. It took both Stark and Rogers to take him down earlier and I was beginning to suspect that Loki took a dive on purpose. The trick would be to avoid any type of confrontation. The response time for the team would be two minutes at most. I just had to delay him for that long without getting into a fistfight.

"There's not many who can best me in a game of wits, Agent Romanoff."

"Aren't I the lucky girl?" My mind raced.

"Yes, indeed you are. It would be a tragedy if someone with your . . . . talents met with an untimely end," he said, eyes narrowed.

_Two minutes. Two minutes. Just keep him talking._

"Well, good thing that we're in agreement about that," I said carefully, big fake smile on my face.

"It may be the only thing we ever do agree on," he said with a smirk.

_How much longer are they going to take? Keep him talking._

All of a sudden, there was an explosion somewhere on the ship and my feet were knocked out from under me. I scrambled to stand up again and I noticed that Loki wasn't surprised at all, that he was licking his lips in anticipation."I really must be going," he said, his tone almost jovial. "But there are two things I should tell you before I leave."

"Okay," I said, trying to figure out what his play was.

"One, I disabled the panic button before you awoke."

My heart began to thud loudly in my ears. Crap. That was it, then. I began to size him up, trying to remember his weaknesses from the fight I had witnessed earlier, trying to think of a way this wasn't going to end with me dead.

"And two?" I asked, my body tense, ready for action.

"I'd get a parachute if I were you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3**

Then, with a wink, Loki vanished; the illusion he was projecting just faded away to green before completely disappearing.

Another explosion rocked the ship and I tore out of my room, heading for the lab to warn the others. On my way there, I kept thinking, _He warned me. Why did he warn me?_

**00000**

After the Battle of New York, with Loki bound in enchanted Asgardian chains, we took turns guarding him as one SHIELD interrogator after another came in and tried to ferret out more information about Thanos' future plans for Earth or if the Chitauri were going to return. We had a limited amount of time with the prisoner before Thor took him back to Asgard in the morning.

Loki looked at them all in stony silence, not bothering to acknowledge their presence. In fact, the only words he'd said since his capture were "Thank you," after Stark gave him a drink as he lay bleeding all over Tony's steps.

Director Fury suggested that we use the scepter on Loki to compel him to answer our questions, but Thor reacted so violently to the plan that Director Fury just flung his arms in the air in frustration as he ran through every conceivable curse word. Finally, Captain Rogers stepped in and calmed everyone down. He suggested that I have a go at it, since I was so successful the last time.

"I don't think the same trick will work on him twice," I said, trying to disagree as politely as I could. There was something about Rogers that urged you to be on your best behavior.

"Nevertheless, ma'am, I think it's worth a try," he said.

I took a deep breath. I was beyond tired and the adrenaline that had been fueling me was seeping out, leaving only the gritty feeling of exhaustion behind.

"Fine," I said with a yawn I didn't bother to cover, "I'll give it a go."

00000

Fifteen minutes later I was standing in front of his new glass cell. He was lying uncomfortably on the hard bunk, obviously trying to rest. He shifted and stood, looking down at me.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," I said with a smile. It felt nicer than it should have to see him bruised and battered.

"Have you come to jest?" he snapped, holding his side, in obvious pain. It didn't surprise me. We all saw the surveillance video of the Hulk using him like a chew toy. Clint had even posted it on-line. It already had over 100,000 hits.

"A little bit," I said, not bothering to seem apologetic. Rogers seemed to think that I was an expert at interrogation, but the "wounded gazelle" gambit is a one-trick pony. Once your opponent realizes you're not really weak or defenseless, it pretty much goes out the window.

"I am not in a gaming mood," Loki replied.

"I think you are."

"Really? What gives you that impression?" he asked, his voice rising as he began to pace the room. "Is it my wounds? My dead, defeated army? What exactly makes you think that I am in the mood for your feeble attempts to extract information from me?"

"This is the most you've talked since you've been captured. I obviously bring out your chatty side," I replied.

"Just like a woman. Did you think you would crook your little finger and I would run to divulge all my secrets?"

"See, you really can't stop yourself," I said. "Look, just answer the questions about Thanos and the Chitauri and you'll never see me again."

Something flashed in his eyes. Something I'd seen before. On other men's faces. And then I knew why he had warned me. I took a deep breath. Well, there was more than one way to manipulate a prisoner.

"I'll not be answering your questions," he said slowly.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that. Looks like it's going to be a long night for you, then."

His lip curled up in an involuntary half-smile, lasting a split-second, but I caught it. "I expect it will be."

I settled down in a straight-back chair and faced him, leaning back a bit and yawning once again. This interrogation was going to be a lot easier than I thought.

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**Author's Note**-I hope you enjoyed this little story! Thank you so much for reading it!


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